I’ve been hearing about Francis Ford Coppola’s dream of Megalopolis for at least 30 years, but he’s probably been talking about it for longer. I’m not even going to try and explain it in my own words, just check out the Wikipedia premise:
An accident destroys a decaying New York City-like metropolis. Cesar Catilina, an idealist architect with the power to control time, aims to rebuild the city as a sustainable utopia, but is opposed by corrupt mayor Franklyn Cicero, who remains committed to a regressive status quo. Torn between them is Franklyn’s socialite daughter, Julia, who, tired of the influence she inherited, searches for her life’s meaning.
A few weeks ago, Coppola released a short scene from the film featuring Adam Driver’s Cesar Catalina, and this morning, in advance of Megalopolis screening at Cannes, a full trailer has been released. To these eyes, it’s mesmerizing and ambitious, and could be either a masterpiece or disaster. Or maybe a bit of both.
There’s no release date yet for Megalopolis.